Q: I'M OVERWORKED, UNDERPAID, UNAPPRECIATED. IT'S EVEN WORSE WHEN I GET TO WORK. ALL THIS IS STARTING TO TAKE ITS TOLL ON MY FACE. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

Kyrie O'ConnorTHE HARTFORD COURANT

A: Sorry. If we could help you with work, pay and appreciation issues, we'd help ourselves first. You're on your own when it comes to whipping your lazy hubby, whiny kids and iguana boss into shape.

In the meantime, sit down to a cup of tea. Steve Smith, CEO of Tazo, the company that distributes its teas to Starbucks and about 5,000 other outlets, says there are potential benefits to both herbal infusions (what you probably call herb tea) and standard black and green teas.

For benefits to health and beauty, he cites the legendary properties of chamomile, comfrey and ginger, which are traditionally supposed to be restorative to distressed skin. But don't neglect black and green teas.

"We want you to buy teas because they taste great, but we also want them to be good for you," Smith says.

Here's a tip from Smith: While strong tea can be dehydrating, you can use a little for your benefit. Brew some tea "liquor" -- the infusion -- and add a bit of it to each of your 10 glasses of water a day. This gives a taste and kick to the water while not taking away from its hydrating properties.

Don't forget the trick of using teabags to reduce the bags under your eyes. Though you'll have to work out for yourself how to pack the lunches for day camp with teabags over your eyes.

Here's a recipe for getting rid of those unsightly dark circles under your eyes, from the Susan Ciminelli Day Spa in New York. No guarantees that it works from here, but the chance to use the phrase "the soup that eats like concealer" is too good to resist. Anyway, the Susan Ciminelli people say this at-home remedy can diminish the dark circles by "cleansing the body from within." This serves four, so gather three of your girlfriends for lunch.

To make the soup, you first have to score Japanese aduki beans, which you may find in the gourmet or exotic section of your supermarket, but a better shot is a natural foods store or an Asian market.

ADUKI BEAN SOUP

* 3 cups aduki beans

* 2 tablespoons cumin

* 1 teaspoon white pepper

* 1 tablespoon olive oil

* 2 carrots, diced

* 2 tablespoon fresh ginger

* 3 garlic cloves, minced

* 1 large sweet onion

* Salt to taste

* Juice of 1 fresh lime

* 3 tablespoon fresh cilantro

Soak aduki beans in a large pot of cold water for 24 hours or overnight. Drain. Add 2 quarts cold water, plus the beans, to the pot and bring to a boil.

Drain the beans again. Then add 2 quarts of fresh cold water again.

Simmer for 30 minutes. Then add cumin and white pepper.

In a frying pan, saute in olive oil the carrots, ginger, garlic and onion. Add ingredients to soup, then cover and simmer 30 minutes, or until beans are cooked through. Fifteen minutes before finish, add salt to taste.

Just before serving, add lime juice and cilantro.

And if you and your three girlfriends sit around during lunch and kvetch about the iguana boss, you'll feel better anyway.